Sweater Weather
by Drones-of-Innocence
Summary: On a cold winter's night, when Luigi can't sleep, Mario's answer involves sweaters and quilts. Inspired by kairy draws 's adorable sweaters that she drew for the brothers!


O~o~O

There was a blackout.

Most of Toad Town was in the dark, or at least it would have been, if the Mario brothers hadn't gone around to every door to hand out and light candles to the citizens. They made sure every house had plenty of light before they would move on. After leaving the final house, satisfied that the Toads would all have light and stay warm through the cold winter night, they finally turned to go back to their own house.

The heater was broken. Snow was beginning to fall. They didn't have many candles left for themselves, but Mario used his Firebrand to light up the fireplace. They were too tired to worry about being very cold, or, more precisely, Luigi being cold. Mario didn't get cold.

It was late. Both brothers wanted nothing more than to get some sleep. Luigi trudged off to his room with the sleepy promise of tinkering with the electricity down in town with his Thunderhand, and Mario mumbled something about building space heaters to distribute around. They just had to hope the castle would be okay without them until morning.

Then, they went to sleep. At least, they would have liked to. Not even five minutes later, the house was awake again with the sound of a vacuum cleaner.

"For the last time, there are no ghosts in the house!"

"But Mario!" Luigi wailed, trying to wrestle with the vacuum nozzle. Mario wouldn't let go. "They're in the curtains! And the rugs! They hide, it's what they do!"

Mario yanked on the nozzle, but Luigi clung to it for dear life. "It's two in the morning!" Mario protested. "Come on, it's so late. You have to be tired. Let's go to bed, okay?"

Shaking his head furiously, Luigi threw his whole body into pulling, and both the brothers stumbled. "No! I can't sleep now!"

"Mamma mia," Mario sighed, and abruptly let go of the vacuum cleaner. Luigi flew back and fell on the floor with a yelp. "There are no ghosts. You know this! We checked last weekend."

The only light in the room was the fireplace, crackling away. The nearest light was several meters away, down town. The house was apparently very cold. Mario rubbed his eyes and glanced between the fire, Luigi shuddering on the floor, and the dark hall that led to their bedrooms.

Tilting his head, Mario looked to the floor again. "Luigi." he said, lowering his voice. "It's not ghosts you're afraid of, is it?"

Luigi blinked at him. His eyes darted all around the walls and the carpet before focusing on Mario again. Then, cradling the vacuum cleaner in his arms, he shook his head.

Mario's expression softened. Stifling a yawn, he came to sit down on the carpet with Luigi. "Your nightlight." he said. "It's not working. So it's dark in your room. Is that why you're scared?"

Back in Brooklyn, there was plenty of light, even at night. The dark had never been a problem for Luigi until after they had come to the Mushroom Kingdom so long ago. The city may never sleep, but the Mushroom Kingdom certainly did.

After weeks of being unable to sleep, to where Luigi had started walking into walls because of how tired he was, Mario was determined to find out what was wrong. He tried everything. Fluffing the pillows every night, reading a bedtime story, making Luigi hot tea before bed, Mario tried every trick in the book.

He wasn't sure how he put it together, exactly. But after listening to Luigi talk about the nightmares he had at night, and observing how he napped during the day just fine, Mario got gut feeling that told him the dark had something to do with it. So he went and found a nice little nightlight.

And it worked like a charm; Luigi hadn't had any problems sleeping since that day. Until now, at last.

Tracing the patterns in the carpet with a finger, Luigi avoided his eyes and finally nodded.

The firewood sputtered, and Luigi jumped. Mario gave a tired smile. "I told you that you could use the candles. I can light them for you," he started to make a move to get up, but Luigi grabbed his sleeve and shook his head. "What?" Mario stopped.

"Someone else might need the candles." Luigi mumbled. He shivered so hard that his jaw clenched. "I don't want to waste them."

Mario just shook his head. He could argue, and tell Luigi that using the candles for himself wasn't a waste at all. That was a surefire way to keep them bickering out in the living room for another hour before they would sleep. But it was two in the morning. He didn't want to argue, he wanted to go to bed. He could work on Luigi's perception of wasting and using another day.

"Come here," he peeled the vacuum cleaner from Luigi's grasp and wrapped his shivering little brother in a hug. "Why didn't you tell me you were so cold?"

Luigi didn't answer except to hug back, which was enough. "Okay. How about this. I will get some blankets. You sit on the couch in front of the fire. We sleep out here tonight." he let go after a moment, and stood up to head back to his room.

He heard Luigi get up as soon as he left. "We?" he called out tentatively.

Mario peeked from around the corner and pretended to roll his eyes. "Yes. We." he answered.

The Firebrand was immensely useful for the dark. Mario summoned a handful of fire to light his way with one hand, while he rummaged around his room for blankets with the other. They didn't actually have much in the way of blankets; the Mushroom Kingdom had nice weather year round, so they didn't really need them. Even when it did get cold or hot, they had set up heating and cooling in all the houses in Toad Town.

He ended up finding a couple of sweaters. One was his, but he didn't remember where he got it. Orange and red striped pattern, crocheted with a goomba in the middle. He smiled. The other was Luigi's. It was so big that it seemed like more of a blanket than a sweater, with a blue plaid design and little pink hearts scattered about.

Just as he slid his sweater over his head, he heard Luigi sit down on the couch and let out a yawn from the living room. Mario shook his head and closed his bedroom door on the way out once he grabbed the quilts. He knew Luigi hated leaving doors open.

"Here," he handed the blue plaid sweater to Luigi, and he saw the instant Luigi recognized it.

He ran a hand over the fabric. "Oh. I remember this," he murmured, just as Mario set his green quilt beside him on the couch. He slid his arms in the sleeves, which were way too big, and made him look like he did when they were little. Mario couldn't help but chuckle while he lay his own red quilt out on the floor in front of the couch.

After taking one pillow for himself and giving the rest to Luigi, Mario went to sit down on the end of the couch with a pillow in his lap. His body was practically a space heater. He planned on sitting there until Luigi was warm and could fall asleep before he would move to lay down on the floor. The quilts were gifts from Princess Peach, way back when they had first come to the Mushroom Kingdom and finally decided to stay. The sweaters, though, Mario couldn't quite place where they had gotten them. They had been on so many adventures and met so many people, the sweaters could have come from anywhere.

Mario was too tired to think. He would ask Luigi about it later. "Cozy?" he looked down to Luigi, just as Luigi lay down with his head on the pillow. Luigi answered him with an affirmative noise. Even so, Mario reached down and touched Luigi's quilt. His Firebrand heated up the heavy blanket with ease, and he hoped it would be enough to keep Luigi warm throughout the night.

He settled with his cheek resting in his palm, and closed his eyes. The fire danced about in the fireplace, casting soft orange light around the room. He listened to Luigi shift around until he was comfortable.

After a moment, Mario nearly nodded off. The sound of the fire, his brother's breathing, the wind outside, were all soothing to him. They had plenty of work on their hands tomorrow, but for now, they could sleep.

"Mario?" he vaguely heard Luigi say.

He processed that it was his name being called. He didn't want to open his eyes. "Hmm?"

There was one more shift next to him on the couch. Luigi curling up under his quilt. He felt the weight of Luigi's head finally relax on his lap. "Thank you." he said, in a small voice.

Mario tried to make some sort of noise in response, but he was too tired to focus on a coherent reply. He hoped Luigi understood. His breathing lengthened. The world faded out.

Outside, snow blanketed the town, inch by inch. The lake was freezing over. Winter had begun, and two brothers slumbered in their house, up on the little hill overlooking Toad Town. The frozen kingdom awaited them in the morning. But for now, at least, they were warm and cozy, dreaming sweet dreams about blankets and old sweaters.

O~o~O

"Hmm, maybe they're not here?"

"Well, look. There's a fire going. Surely they're inside. It is late; perhaps they're just sleeping." Peach whispered.

While Daisy went to peek through the windows, Peach shuddered and rubbed her eyes. She wished she was sleeping in her warm bed. But after hearing about the blackout and how the brothers had gone around town to give out candles, she was just consumed with worry for them. Daisy was spending a few days at the castle anyway. So Peach asked for her to come along.

Of course, Daisy was as eager to see them as she was, especially Luigi. The same way Peach was always eager to see Mario.

She came despite the late hour because she knew how cold it would be getting. She could use her magic to keep their house warm for them until they got the heater working again. There was no telling how long the blackout would be.

"Hey, check this out." Daisy bent down and lifted the welcome mat in front of the door. "Luigi showed me where they keep an extra key." she grinned as she lifted a small key up into the light for Peach to see.

Clasping her hands together, Peach smiled. "Oh! How clever! I never would have thought to look there." she said. "They must have learned that trick in Brooklyn."

Daisy shrugged. "I guess so. Anyway, let's get inside; I'm freezing." she went to unlock the door, and Peach noticed her shivering as well.

It took a moment, fumbling with the key, before Daisy managed to get the door open. What they saw had them both cover their mouths, freezing in the doorway.

The brothers were fast asleep in the living room. Mario had somehow dozed off while sitting on the couch, with Luigi's head resting on a pillow in his lap. It was common knowledge that Luigi could sleep like a log, but Mario was a light sleeper. Startling him could be dangerous if he thought someone was breaking in. Daisy and Peach signalled for each other to stay quiet while stifling giggles.

Peach went to shut the door before the chill could rush in and wake anyone up. Daisy went to go look at the snoozing brothers, trying as hard as she could to not laugh. It was understandable; they were so used to seeing the brothers on high alert, ready for action. To see them sleeping was a rare, but nice change. They hardly ever got a chance to relax.

Once the door was locked, Peach let out a deep breath and raised her arms to use her magic. The house was warm again. She knew Mario would have been fine; his Firebrand gave him a unique tolerance to the cold. But poor Luigi didn't get the same gift from his Thunderhand. Perhaps that was why Mario was sleeping there with Luigi; to keep him warm.

She was touched. The nature of the brother's relationship was always a privilege to witness; Daisy was the closest thing Peach had to a sibling, and she was sure the reverse was true as well. So they always loved to see the way Mario and Luigi acted around one another.

"I love their sweaters," Daisy whispered, reaching over the back of the couch to touch Luigi's sleeve.

Peach smiled and nodded. "I know. They look so comfy," she kept her tone low and careful, as she went to stand in front of Mario. She couldn't touch him; he would wake up.

But they just looked so cozy sleeping there. Peach got an idea, and shared a playful look with Daisy. "Oh, it's so dark and cold outside, Daisy. We can't possibly trek all the way back to the castle in this weather," she pretended to sigh.

Playing along, Daisy put a hand to her forehead. "You're so right, Peach. I guess we don't have a choice." she came around in front of the couch. "We have to spend the night here."

Their exaggerated tones worked. Mario stirred, and blinked blearily. "Wh…" he started to say. He must have been too tired to be alarmed. He shifted, but Luigi didn't wake up. "What…"

"Oh, Mario, thank goodness!" Peach reached out and touched his cheek, and the gesture immediately had the intended effect. Mario jolted up, looking with wide eyes between the two of them. "It's so very cold outside, I'm afraid we have to stay here with you two until morning!"

Mario didn't even have time to say anything as Peach and Daisy moved to join the brothers on the couch. "Here, I'll take this one off of your hands," Daisy sat on the other end of the couch, and pulled on Luigi's arm until he was laying against her instead. Luigi curled up a little bit, his hands disappearing in his sweater sleeves, but he didn't wake up. Meanwhile, Peach went to take the vacated spot beside Mario.

His sweater was soft, and he was even warmer than she expected him to be. Their plan had worked flawlessly. Peach and Daisy shared smug grins before settling to go to sleep.

"This must be a dream…" Mario said to himself, and he had already started to nod off again. He adjusted his arms around Peach.

Luigi mumbled something into Daisy's shoulder, and smiled in his sleep. Daisy giggled and held him close. The brothers were just too cute when they were sleepy.

"Hush, now. Sweet dreams, hon." Daisy whispered.

Late night sweater cuddles were the perfect way to spend a blackout at the start of winter.

O~o~O

**So Kairy drew a couple of works featuring Mario and Luigi wearing some adorable sweaters, and I felt the need to write about those cozy bros! I had a need for brotherly love and cuddles from the Princesses hehe, so I wrote this silly little drabble! Please make sure to check out Kairy's work, she's on Instagram and Twitter! I really should be doing homework instead of this whoops, but anyway, I hope this was satisfying to you as it was to me! Thanks for reading!**


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